Books & Ideas Audio
Episodes
Malcolm Gladwell in Conversation with Ian Hanomansing
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Malcolm Gladwell’s first book, The Tipping Point, changed the way we think and talk about the dissemination of ideas. Twenty-five years after its p...
Robert Macfarlane: Is A River Alive?
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At the heart of Robert Macfarlane's Is a River Alive? is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but livin...
Tanya Talaga: The Knowing
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We all owe a great deal of gratitude—not just admiration—to award-winning, Anishinaabe author and journalist Tanya Talaga, whose work (such as ...
Chinatown: Past and Future
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Acclaimed authors Christina Wong and Daniel Innes, Henry Tsang, and Fae Myenne Ng joined us at the 2023 Vancouver Writers Fest for a discussion with K...
Timothy Caulfield: The Certainty Illusion
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Telling what’s real from what’s fake should be easy. In today’s world, that’s far from the case. Bestselling author and Canada Research Chair ...
Canisia Lubrin and Dionne Brand in Conversation
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Code Noir, the debut fiction work from acclaimed, award-winning poet, editor, and writer Canisia Lubrin was named a best book of 2024 by CBC and The...
Honouring Murray Sinclair: With Tanya Talaga and Shelagh Rogers
14 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To honour the life and work of Murray Sinclair—trail-blazing Anishinaabe lawyer and senator, the first Indigenous judge appointed in Manitoba, and...
Ali Velshi and Ian Hanomansing in Conversation
01 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ali Velshi—Chief Correspondent for MSNBC, a weekly economics contributor to NPR, and host of his own news show, “Velshi”—joins us to discuss h...
Andrey Kurkov: Diary of an Invasion
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Vancouver Writers Fest and Upstart & Crow Literary Arts Studio welcomed Ukraine’s most celebrated writer, Andrey Kurkov, to discuss his wor...
Wade Davis: Beneath the Surface of Things
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Travel into the heart of humanity with one of the foremost thinkers of our time. Wade Davis’s awe-inspiring career includes being the renowned auth...
Michelle Good: Truth Telling
01 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michelle Good has moved and inspired millions of people with Five Little Indians, the Canada Reads-winning novel that tells the story of a group of re...
Celeste Ng: Our Missing Hearts
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Where does one start when listing the accolades and praise for Celeste Ng’s deeply felt, intelligent body of work? Little Fires Everywhere sold m...
The Poetry Bash
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our annual Poetry Bash is a gateway to discovering exceptional poets from across the globe. In this release from our 2023 flagship Festival, hear read...
Sheila Heti: Alphabetical Diaries
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Acclaimed Canadian writer Sheila Heti speaks with Molly Cross-Blanchard in this conversation from our 2024 Incite series, presented in partnership wit...
Zadie Smith in Conversation with Madeleine Thien
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Widely recognized as one of the finest and most influential authors writing in English today, Zadie Smith speaks about her acclaimed latest novel, The...
Naomi Klein: Doppelganger
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Naomi Klein’s new book, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World, delves into what she calls the Mirror World—our destabilized present rife wit...
Margaret Atwood in Conversation
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The legendary Margaret Atwood joined award-winning author Ian Williams to discuss Old Babes in the Wood, her extraordinary new collection of short...
Pierre Jarawan in Conversation with Eleanor Wachtel
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After 33 years as the acclaimed host of CBC Radio’s Writers & Company, Eleanor Wachtel retired this year. Celebrate her long career by revisiti...
Yellowface: R. F. Kuang
01 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca F. Kuang shot to #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list with her previous novels Babel and the Poppy War Trilogy. She joined the Vanco...
On Freedom: Maggie Nelson
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Those who are first introduced to Maggie Nelson soon notice her name throughout their literary and social worlds. The award-winning writer, scholar,...
Writing in America Today
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
These three American writers are at the top of their game, their works each addressing timeless and timely themes of individuality, freedom, justice, ...
The Poetry Bash
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Entrancing, surprising, and memorable: The Poetry Bash gathers some of our favourite poets from across the globe. This recording from our 2022 flagshi...
Run Towards the Danger with Sarah Polley
01 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Canadian writer, director, and actor Sarah Polley joined the Vancouver Writers Fest in celebration of her evocative release, Run Toward...
Writing History: Nadifa Mohamed and Nathan Harris
01 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Two of the biggest names in literary historical fiction discuss race, humanity, and writing sweeping stories based on true events. Nadifa Mohamed’s&...
Ian Rankin in Conversation with Charles Demers
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The long wait is over: John Rebus, detective inspector and the central protagonist of Edgar Award and Diamond Dagger recipient Ian Rankin’s acc...
Her Image on the Mirror: A Tribute to Mavis Gallant
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a television interview for CBC in the mid-60s, Mavis Gallant spoke of her love for mirrors—as objects, and as symbols. She refers to them often i...
Try Not to Be Strange: Michael Hingston
17 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean lies the tiny island of Redonda. Uninhabitable by humans, Redonda is home instead to a variety of wil...
Namwayut: Chief Robert Joseph
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We all share a common humanity. No matter how long or difficult the path ahead, we are all one. Chief Robert Joseph, globally recognized peacebuilder ...
Binge: Douglas Coupland in Conversation
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“If you love Doug’s fiction, this collection is like rain on the desert,” says the publisher of Douglas Coupland’s first work of fiction since...
Spotlight on the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This year, the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts holds its 40th annual festival from August 11–14, at the Rockwood Centre in Sechelt, BC. ...
2022 Festival Reading List Special
01 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve just recently released our 2022 Festival Reading List, filled with over 115 exceptional books and authors that will be joining the Vancouver W...
Hook, Line, and Sinker
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If only there was a word for that sense of anticipation and delight that comes with opening the cover of a new thriller, knowing you’ll be spellboun...
The Threads of Family and Resilience
01 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Te-Ping Chen’s debut fiction, Land of Big Numbers: Stories, is lauded by NPR as “as brilliant an instance of a journalist’s keen eye manifesting...
Susan Orlean in Conversation with Mark Medley
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Each time Susan Orlean graces the Writers Fest with a visit, audiences are reminded why she is called “a national treasure” by The Washington Post...
Caribbean Masterpieces With Myriam Chancy and Cherie Jones
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Cherie Jones and Myriam Chancy have both written powerful, dynamic, disturbing novels about upheaval and injustice in the Caribbean. Jones, a Barbadia...
Lauren Groff in Conversation with John Freeman
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Of all the attributes Lauren Groff possesses, range is surely one of them. Her “all-conquering” 2015 novel, Fates and Furies, was a literary maste...
Omar El Akkad in Conversation with Mark Medley
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Omar El Akkad won the 2021 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel What Strange Paradise, a devastating yet beautiful story of two children against the ...
Saga Boy: Antonio Michael Downing in Conversation with Barbara Chirinos
24 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Antonio Michael Downing was raised by his indomitable grandmother in the lush rainforest of southern Trinidad, but—at age 11—is uprooted to Canada...
China Unbound: Joanna Chiu in Conversation with Doug Saunders
22 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As the world’s second-largest economy, China is extending its influence across the globe with the complicity of democratic nations. Internationally ...
Jordan Abel in Conversation with Tanya Talaga
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Griffin Poetry Prize winner Jordan Abel’s Nishga is a groundbreaking, deeply personal, and devastating autobiographical meditation that attempts to ...
The Winter Book Club with Ethan Hawke
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our Winter Book Club event featured award-winning actor and screenwriter Ethan Hawke for his novel, A Bright Ray of Darkness, moderated by Festiv...
Chimes of Freedom: Yaa Gyasi & Colson Whitehead
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From the archives of the Vancouver Writers Fest: The memory of captivity is burned deep into the psyche of America, so it is no surprise that novelist...
Writing Country (2015) with Roxane Gay, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Marlon James and Viet Thanh Nguyen
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Originally recorded on October 23, 2015, Writing Country is a remarkable conversation with authors Roxane Gay, Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Marlon James and V...
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson in Conversation with Dionne Brand
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A renowned Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, writer and artist, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson has been lauded by many as one of the most compelling writ...
Walter Mosley in Conversation with Jael Richardson
17 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Writing Is What I Do: Walter Mosley’s work includes 43 critically acclaimed books, translated into 23 languages, and countless essays in prestigious...
Margaret MacMillan in Conversation with Kathryn Gretsinger
13 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is peace an aberration? As former president of the World Bank, Robert B. Zoellick, explained, “only a historian with… comprehensive knowledge, com...
An Evening with Emma Donoghue
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Man Booker finalist Emma Donoghue is an undeniable sensation who shot to acclaim for penning both the novel and screenplay for Room. Since then, the a...
Marilynne Robinson in Conversation with Ian Williams
24 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Time to break out your headphones! In a truly special event and conversation available exclusively through the Festival’s Books & Ideas Audio se...
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
23 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Three Freeman’s contributors from three different genres, born on three different continents, talk about the way love makes a story, a poem, and the...
Ayad Akhtar in Conversation with Eleanor Wachtel
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“The weight of politics in our country had coalesced and summoned a response out of me,” said Ayad Akhtar, the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Pakistani A...
Beverley McLachlin in Conversation with Laura Lynch
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For nearly two decades, Beverley McLachlin served as the Chief Justice of Canada, the longest serving Chief Justice in Canadian history and the first ...
Bina, Bunny & The Idiot
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Elif Batuman, Mona Awad and Anakana Schofield delight in a sold-out evening of whip-smart, hilarious and unapologetically audacious conversation, a hi...
Tanya Talaga in Conversation with Jael Richardson
19 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning journalist, author and CBC Massey Lecturer Tanya Talaga's Seven Fallen Feathers investigated the startling deaths of seven Indigenous st...
Desmond Cole in Conversation with Barbara Chirinos
04 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning journalist Desmond Cole’s The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power has been an incisive and revealing work on policin...
Margaret Atwood in Conversation with Cherie Dimaline
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Handmaid's Tale author and global sensation Margaret Atwood joins celebrated author Cherie Dimaline to discuss The Testaments, writing process and...
Malcolm Gladwell in Conversation with Lisa Christiansen
24 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
International bestseller author Malcolm Gladwell sits down with CBC Host Lisa Christiansen in a gripping discussion of history, psychology and scandal...
Lindy West in Conversation with Hannah McGregor
08 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lindy West is known for her fierce, funny and forthright analyses of contemporary culture. During a special event at the Vancouver Writers Fest, West ...
Marlon James in Conversation with Ian Williams
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
By combining African history, mythology and his own rich imagination, Man Booker prize winning author Marlon James captivated the world with his bests...